


All About Us

by blynninja



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Confessions, F/M, Gen, Kissing, Making Out, Marriage, Meet-Cute, Multi, Other, one shots, ongoing, prompt fills, proposal, soulmate aus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2020-10-20 21:44:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 19,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20682401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blynninja/pseuds/blynninja
Summary: Mostly one-shot prompt fillers that don't leave me alone, or things I've been working on forever that fit the OTP. Tags updated as I go. Some in alternate universes and some in essentially the anime/manga universe.





	1. Opposite Sides

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So we’ve never met but our showers are on opposite sides of the same apartment wall so sometimes we’re showering at the same time and we sing duets”  
Modern AU

Hak paused, frowning at the time.

Just who else was awake at two in the morning on a Monday, of all days?

He sighed, scrubbing a hand through his hair.

Maybe his neighbor had a similar work schedule?

He didn’t want to think about the _other_ options.

All he wanted to do was shower as quickly as possible so he could get a little bit of sleep before his shift started again at eight.

Why he’d ever agreed to switch shifts with Jae-ha he’d never know, and he’d never forgive himself.

The water in the apartment next door didn’t turn off before his, so Hak went about drying his hair with a frown as sleepy singing filtered in from the opposite side of the wall.

_Ch._

So his neighbor sang when they showered—big deal.

He needed sleep, and told himself so as he walked back into his bedroom to crawl into bed.

X

The next time he heard his neighbor singing in the shower was a morning a few weeks later, and it gave him pause.

The song was one of the rare ones he actually had memorized, and Hak was sorely tempted to sing along, but he figured that’d be really weird. 

Instead he listened as he showered quickly before work, coming to the conclusion that his neighbor was actually a decent singer.

Apparently that first time hadn’t been a random late-night fluke. 

Part of him wondered why he’d never noticed the habit before, but probably their showering schedules had never really coincided before now—which was a perverted thought train waiting to happen that he quickly shook out of his head.

X

Eventually, his neighbor settled into a predictable shower schedule, and Hak scared himself with how familiar he was with this person’s routine.

He knew they—she, he had convinced himself, by the voice—tended to shower in the evenings, unless it happened to be a weekend.

He could almost set his clock by his neighbor’s shower, which he knew would sound creepy if he ever mentioned it to anyone.

There was usually one night that she showered earlier than others, and he had determined that it was because her favorite TV show was on apparently too late for her to shower afterward.

He knew that when she showered any later than had become normal, she usually had friends over or had gotten caught up in a phone conversation with her parents—he’d heard her end a phone call before starting the shower once.

Sometimes she sang along to songs she played from her phone, and other times she sang from memory, which Hak found somewhat impressive. He doubted he could never remember most songs at the drop of a hat like that.

Eventually Hak realized he had begun waiting to shower until he heard her water running, or he’d stand in the bathroom while she sang just to listen. Some days he found himself taking longer showers than strictly necessary, just to listen to his neighbor singing to herself.

Eventually he worked up the courage—and the memory—to sing along with her on at least the choruses of some of her favorite songs, hoping that she couldn’t hear him as well as he could hear her.

She never paused in her singing in a way that indicated hearing him, at least, so he kept his singing to that level for a little while.

Until she started playing songs that were specifically duets.

The first night she’d done that, he’d groaned so loudly that he was certain she’d heard him.

He’d spent the evening and most of the next day looking up the lyrics to popular duets just so he’d be prepared for what she might decide to play, mentally berating himself for his idiocy.

But he found he enjoyed belting out lyrics—albeit usually sappy love songs—with this girl he’d never met, and he could swear he heard her smiling more often than not when they sang together loudly (and sometimes off-key) in their enthusiasm.

X

Hak froze in the hallway, nearly dropping his grocery bags.

It couldn’t be.

He’d never actually seen the neighbor with whom he shared a bathroom wall, but this had to be her.

In all those months of listening to her sing, or singing along with her, he’d somehow never imagined her to be so _tiny_ and _adorable._

His left arm gave out, the grocery bag spilling onto the floor, and his duet neighbor glanced over at him curiously before leaping into action to pick up his spilled cereal boxes and the apples he’d carefully balanced on top of everything else.

“Do you need some help?” she asked, blinking at him, and if Hak had thought her singing voice was cute, it was nothing on her speaking voice.

He was going to pass out in front of his apartment, and it was going to be because his neighbor had said five words to him.

Hak shook himself mentally, plastering a smile on his face as he opened his mouth to tell her no.

She continued picking up his groceries before he could tell her not to, a smile on her face as he blinked.

The gold tassel-like earrings swishing beneath her red hair were strangely mesmerizing, Hak found.

Finally, his brain registered that she had gathered all of his dropped things back up and was looking between him and his door expectantly.

“Oh! Keys,” he muttered, fishing them out of his pocket.

The remaining grocery bag tipped precariously at his elbow and Hak did the first thing that he could think of: dropped his keys and steadied the bag with both hands.

His neighbor smiled calmly at him, bending down to retrieve his keys. Before he could put his hand out for them, she had his door open and was stepping into his apartment.

Hak blinked after her for a moment before she shook her head with a small smile and took the grocery bag from him, setting it on the kitchen counter and turning back to him with a raised eyebrow.

“Don’t tell me you need help putting all of this away, too?”

Hak could only stammer half-formed words, watching helplessly as his neighbor rolled her eyes good-naturedly and pulled him into his own apartment.

“I—you—um,” he managed, rubbing the back of his neck, collecting his jumbled thoughts.

“We share the same bathroom wall and you sing when you shower and your voice is really nice and sometimes I sing along,” he finally blurted, cursing the blush on his face.

His neighbor tilted her head at him and he nearly died on the spot.

“I noticed,” was all she said, though she was smiling.

“I… I wondered if you had, when you started playing duets.”

The grin she gave him nearly gave him a heart attack.

“I noticed you have more trouble with those…” She gestured with a hand, eyebrow raised, and Hak realized they had never exchanged names.

“Hak!” he yelped, sticking his hand out for her to shake. “And no. I’m not really into show tunes.”

“Well, that can always be remedied,” his neighbor said with a grin that Hak would have called devious if not at least determined.

“I’m Yona.”

She shook his hand then, smiling at him gently, and Hak sighed.

“Nice to finally meet you, Yona.”

“You too, Hak.”

Yona gestured to his groceries, raising an eyebrow again.

“Are you going to put all of this away or…?”

“I’ll get to it,” Hak assured her, glancing at his watch. “Isn’t it about time for your show?”

Yona blinked at him and he cursed himself as realization dawned on her.

“Have you been _spying_ on me?” she nearly shrieked, her face turning pink.

“No!” he yelped immediately. “I just… I figured out some of your routine?”

Yona stared at him suspiciously for a moment, like she was wondering what else he had figured out, but Hak sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“Sorry, that sounds weird. You’re just so predictable most nights that I kind of figured out the pattern.”

Yona bit her bottom lip, considering his confession, and finally replied, “I can’t really help it. I like routine.”

“No, no, I get it! I like routine too,” Hak assured her, studying his kitchen floor. “You don’t have to go changing your schedule just because I’m a creep.”

“You’re not a creep,” Yona argued, and he glanced up at her. “You’re … observant.”

Hak sighed, shrugging. “As long as you don’t think I’m a pervert or anything.”

“Of course not,” Yona replied quickly, but then frowned. “Should I?”

“No!” He nearly yelped again, too loud and too quickly, but Yona just smiled at him.

“I should get home,” she said then, gesturing next door. “Like you said, my show starts in a few minutes.”

“You could just stay here and we could watch together,” Hak suggested before he knew what he was saying, and Yona blinked at him.

“Do you even watch the same show I do on Tuesdays?” She asked with a frown, and Hak frowned right back. 

“Probably not, but I could start!”

Yona laughed then, music to his ears, and part of him hoped she’d stay.

“Thanks, but I get pretty animated when I watch my show. It’s not exactly pretty.”

Hak scoffed, shrugging. “Who cares? I yell at the TV when I watch sports. You can’t be much worse than that.”

“Want to bet?” Yona asked, and Hak grinned, gesturing to his living room.

“Let’s find out, Miss Musical.”

Yona rolled her eyes at him but pranced—_pranced!_—into his living room, making herself at home on the couch before he could so much as blink.

Well, if he was going to have a guest, he’d have to make her feel welcome, he figured. He busied himself grabbing glasses for water and throwing a bag of popcorn in the microwave, setting everything on the coffee table just as the opening credits rolled.

Yona wasn’t lying; Hak was willing to bet she was just as animated watching this show as he was watching his preferred sporting events.

Several times he glanced at her and caught himself about to laugh at her expression, but quickly squelched the noise as she glanced at him, or passed it off as laughing at the characters or plot.

As the show ended, Yona yawned, and Hak found himself mirroring the action with a groan. Maybe he’d just sleep on his couch tonight.

“I have to wash my hair before I go to bed,” Yona nearly whined, rubbing her eyes. “I don’t want to.”

“We could do that together, too,” Hak replied sleepily before his brain had caught up with the words.

Alarmed, he slapped a hand to his mouth, but it was too late: Yona was already blushing like mad, staring at him with mouth agape.

The still-sleepy part of his brain flashed an image of kissing her, but the awake side squashed it just as quickly—there was no way Yona was going to stay in his apartment one more second after that comment, never mind ever come back.

“I didn’t mean to say that,” Hak sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes to avoid Yona’s gaze.

“I’m sure you didn’t,” Yona said slowly, and he felt the couch shift as she stood.

“Thanks for … this,” she continued, and Hak opened his eyes to gauge her expression.

“Sure,” he replied, shifting on the couch. “Thanks for helping me clean up my groceries.”

“Any time,” Yona smiled, and Hak found himself smiling in return.

“If you don’t mind, I think I’ll let myself out,” Yona continued, glancing at him with an amused grin.

Hak waved lamely. “Yeah, I don’t really feel like moving.”

Yona chuckled and waved, covering another yawn as she headed for the front door, and it clicked shut behind her moments later. Her apartment door opened and closed within another ten seconds.

With a groan, Hak shoved himself off of the couch, figuring that it was better to put everything away before he fell asleep, after all.

Seeing as he was up and moving, he decided he’d at least go change into pajamas and brush his teeth before bed. If he fell back to sleep on the couch watching the late news, it wasn’t the end of the world.

Yona’s shower was running as he walked into his bathroom to brush his teeth, and Hak found himself laughing at the song she was belting out.

Of _course_ she’d pick a song whose lyrics reflected the awkwardness of their first encounter.

As soon as Hak belted out the second verse and heard Yona’s singing devolve into laughter, he knew they’d be fine.

Xx

It became habit over time, like their shower duets, for one of them to end up in the other’s apartment on Tuesday nights for Yona’s show.

It was slowly growing on Hak, though not as much as her company.

They chatted during commercial breaks, Yona sharing stories of growing up rich and privileged, and Hak took to calling her “Princess,” much to her chagrin.

He told her about growing up living with his cousins and his love for kendo, laughing at the look on her face when he pointed out the shelf of trophies Mundok had insisted he put in his apartment when he’d moved towns.

He learned that Yona was an only child and she was interning at a fashion magazine in hopes of becoming a designer or critic.

Her father hadn’t been thrilled when she’d taken the job, but he’d insisted on paying for the apartment and Yona had grudgingly let him, figuring that her money could be spent on other necessities and indulgences like movies or eating out periodically.

More often than not, Hak found himself watching Yona more than her show, smiling when her eyes lit up in triumph when her guesses about plot points were proven right, and handing over tissues when character deaths made her cry.

Tuesday quickly became his favorite night of the week.

x

The early morning that she knocked on his door, shaking, in her pajamas, Hak’s heart stopped as he ushered her inside, wondering what had happened to make her so terrified.

Yona broke down into tears, crumpling into his chest as she sobbed, and it took him a full half-hour to soothe her enough for her to whisper, “My parents. They were killed.”

Hak’s heart broke for her, and he simply held her, pulling her to the couch and letting her tears soak his shirt until she fell asleep.

He shifted his hold on her, figuring she’d be more comfortable curled up in a bed than on a couch, and carried her to his room, shushing her as she stirred.

Yona blinked at him blearily, shifting in his arms as she realized what he was doing, and Hak smoothed a hand over her hair. 

“Just sleep, Princess,” he whispered. “You’re too heavy to carry to your place.”

She scowled at him, the effect ruined by the tears staining her cheeks and the sleepy way her eyelids drooped, and Hak resisted the urge to laugh.

“You’re exhausted, Yona,” he informed her, pulling the blankets up to her chin. “Sleep.”

“Hak!” she nearly yelped, and he felt her hands scrambling to grasp his. “I’m afraid to sleep by myself.”

Hak regarded his neighbor carefully, the playful fire he usually saw in her eyes now a dull flame.

Sighing, he settled himself next to her, on top of the blankets, and Yona snuggled slowly into his side, her head resting on his chest.

Eventually, he fell asleep, as well, and woke with Yona’s fingers curled into his shirt.

After a while, Hak sighed, realizing that at some point he’d begun tracing random patterns on her shoulder as he watched her sleep.

The noise Yona made when he stopped running his hand over her arm was almost _disappointed_, and Hak raised an eyebrow.

Surely she couldn’t be fully awake yet, he told himself, but resumed his pattern-tracing.

Yona sighed, her head shifting against his chest as her fingers let go of his shirt to trail over to his opposite hip, hugging him closer.

She had to still be asleep, Hak told himself, watching her carefully even as he held his breath. There was no way she’d be doing this if she were conscious.

Yona’s nose brushed his chest as her head shifted positions and Hak shivered, trying not make a sound that would wake his sleeping beauty.

Yona made a contented noise and her grip on his waist loosened ever-so-slightly as her legs stretched out under the blankets.

It took her a moment to register her surroundings, and Hak felt her blush move from her face to the rest of her limbs, but she didn’t pull away.

“Good morning, Princess,” Hak said quietly, watching her carefully.

He found himself thinking he could be happy saying that every morning, but shoved the thought aside.

“Hak,” Yona replied, and he was pleased to note she sounded embarrassed as she continued, “Thank you. For… for staying with me.”

“Eh, it’s my apartment, so technically _you_ stayed with _me_.”

Yona rolled her eyes at him and sighed. “You know what I mean.”

“Mmm. How are you feeling?” He ventured to ask, not bothering to mask his concern.

Yona’s gaze dropped from his as she replied, “I’m still not sure it feels real, and I’m afraid.”

Hak hummed acknowledgement and Yona’s eyes snapped back up to him. “But I’m better with you here.”

It was Hak’s turn to blush as Yona smiled fondly at him before tears leaked from her eyes and her face crumpled into sorrow.

“Oh, Princess,” Hak murmured, shifting one arm to rest his hand against her face and wipe the tears away with his thumb. “It’s okay to be sad and afraid and whatever else you’re feeling. I’ll be with you for as much of it as you let me.”

Yona nodded through the sobs that had bubbled up, her hands clutching him again as she toppled forward into his chest, tears soaking his shirt.

He held her like that for a long time, rubbing circles on her back and searching blindly for the box of tissues on his nightstand, setting it on the bed for Yona to reach when she needed it.

Hak was incredibly glad today was his day off, or else he’d have called in sick and let Jae-ha deal with his absence.

What felt like hours later, Yona finally lifted her head and sniffled, rubbing her face.

“Sorry,” she whispered, but Hak set a finger over her lips, ignoring the way her eyes went wide as he assured her, “Don’t apologize. This is what friends do, right?”

Yona looked like she wanted to open her mouth to reply, but a cross-eyed glance at his finger made her nod mutely instead.

Hak grinned but didn’t remove his finger, hoping to keep her from sobbing again, at least. His other arm was still around her back, keeping her effectively pinned against him.

He only succeeded in making the blush darker, which only bothered Yona, if her wide eyes were any indication.

“Hak,” she finally chided around his finger, and he almost let go of her.

Almost.

“Haaaaaaak,” Yona whined, trying to wiggle out of his grip, but he raised an eyebrow at her plight, wondering what she would try next.

As if in slow motion, her face scrunched into a pout and then she huffed out a sigh before her teeth sank gently into his finger.

Hak winced but didn’t relinquish his hold, drawing himself up taller on the mattress and staring down at Yona, who looked a little surprised at her own choice of action.

“Since when did you get so bold, Princess?” he drawled, smirking as she flushed but held his gaze.

“I guess your torrid attitude finally rubbed off on me,” she replied, though her voice trembled a little.

“Is that so?” Hak asked, leaning over into her space again and chuckling as her blush grew darker still even as she tried to keep his gaze.

Trying to lean back and keep eye contact at the same time, Yona lost her balance and fell back onto his bed, hair fanning out around her and her fingers going for his shirt again to try to pull herself up.

Hak let himself lean just a little closer, enough to watch her expression turn concerned, before he forced himself to back off and sit back up, running a hand through his hair.

“Sorry; that was uncalled for.”

“Hak?” Yona asked, her voice confused and a little concerned.

Hak shook his head, waving a hand. “Please, forget everything that’s happened in the last… few minutes. It shouldn’t have.”

He looked up just in time to see Yona frown.

“You think I’ll be able to forget that?”

“No, just… just pretend it didn’t happen.”

“It might be a little hard to pretend that I wasn’t expecting you to kiss me.”

There was the slightest hint of anger in Yona’s voice, but mostly her expression told him she was disappointed.

“I shouldn’t,” he began, stammering, “You’re still tired and confused and grieving and I don’t want to take advantage of your mixed-up emotions.”

“The only mixed-up emotions here seem to be yours,” Yona said quietly, and Hak glanced back at her sharply, confused.

“Hak, I’ve wanted to kiss you since the moment you started singing duets with me,” Yona confessed, no trace of malice in her tone, only fact. “Poor timing doesn’t change that fact.”

Hak blinked, unable to form a coherent sentence.

Yona giggled, the brightest sound he’d ever heard, before he found his voice.

“You, um. You. Like me?” he nearly squeaked, embarrassed by his own timidity.

One of Yona’s hands found its way to his chin and tipped his head back up to look at her as she replied truthfully, “Very much.”

Hak was certain he was about to wake up from the best dream he’d ever had. Before it could end on a disappointing note, he reached for Yona, pressing his mouth to hers in a desperate kiss he was sure he’d remember when he woke up.

Except when he dropped his hands and opened his eyes, Yona was still staring at him, one eyebrow raised.

“Worried I’m going to float away?” she asked, and he wondered briefly how she’d read his mind.

“Are you sure this is okay? Right now? You just lost your parents—” Hak began, balling his hands into fists as he watched Yona process his question.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the last twelve hours, it’s that you can’t take people for granted,” Yona replied quietly, her gaze searching.

Hak hummed in agreement, still uncertain, but when Yona invaded his personal space to kiss him, he certainly didn’t complain.

When Hak pulled back, the whine that left Yona’s throat made him chuckle and he leaned his forehead against hers, catching his breath.

“I’m guessing that met your expectations, then?” he asked quietly, watching the blush that began at Yona’s neck travel up to her ears.

Yona hummed what sounded like an affirmation and leaned in to kiss him again, taking her time.

“Are you distracting yourself from everything else you need to do today?” he asked when she leaned back, daring to break the mood.

Yona frowned at him, her thumb running along his jaw in what he assumed was an effort to distract _him_.

It wasn’t going to work.

“Seriously, Princess,” he insisted, running a finger up and down her arm. “You have to have more important things to do today than hide from the world.”

Yona’s gaze dropped to his bedding, the comforter squished between her fingers as she replied, “Can’t I just hide here with you for a little longer?”

Hak sighed, pulling her into a hug and stroking her hair as he replied, “We can’t hide forever. I’ll go with you to whatever appointments you need to take care of, I promise.”

Yona’s reply was muffled by his shirt, but he could tell it was a question and he loosened his embrace just enough to see her face. “What was that?”

“Don’t you have to work?”

“Not today,” he replied cheerfully. “I don’t have to see stupid Droopy-Eyes for a whole ‘nother day.” He paused to give Yona a significant look, continuing, “And I’ll take whatever personal time Gigan will give me to help you through this.”

Yona sighed heavily, burying her face back in his shirt, and Hak smiled gently.

Whatever happened next, they’d face it together.

Probably there would be singing, and he had no issue with that fact.

They’d started their adventure in song, so it only made sense to continue it that way.


	2. Meet Cute

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by [this Not Always Related story](https://notalwaysright.com/the-only-thing-cuter-than-a-puppy-is-a-meet-cute/162902/) that was too adorable to leave alone.  
Modern AU.

“Hey, Tae-yeon, what do you say we go to the park?”

“Are you done working already?” Tae-yeon asks, eyes bright, and Hak grins.

Watching his littlest brother when their grandfather is out of town is easily the highlight of his work-from-home schedule. Tae-yeon is incredibly bright and polite for a kindergartener, and being around his cheerful smile is enough to make Hak bear the longer hours of the days leading up to Tae-yeon’s visits.

“Yep!” he says cheerfully, grinning from the living room doorway. “I worked a little longer yesterday, and it’s Friday, so my boss let me be done early. I thought you might like to go play outside for a little bit.”

“Yay!” his little brother cheers, infectious enough that Hak’s smile grows at Tae-yeon races for the front door, in so much of a rush that he puts his shoes on the wrong feet.

Hak chuckles as Tae-yeon slows down to right his footwear, and then they’re out the door, down the street to the park at the end of the block. It’s close enough that Hak lets Tae-yeon run a little bit ahead of him, but his brother knows to stay within shouting distance, so he’s not too concerned.

Tae-yeon plays happily for a while, making friends with some of the neighborhood children and starting up a game of tag before the others have to head home.

The concern creeps up when Hak spots a neighbor who lives on the floor below him, a dog at her side.

Tae-yeon spots the dog seconds after he does, and Hak can hear the gasp from across the playground.

“Tae-yeon! Hold up!” he calls before his brother can take a step, and Tae-yeon pauses, turning back to look at him curiously.

Hak makes Tae-yeon wait for him to step closer before explaining, “Do you see what that dog is wearing?”

“It’s a vest! It looks cute!”

Hak leans down towards Tae-yeon, gesturing at the dog. “The vest means that dog is working.”

“Working?” Tae-yeon asks, blinking at him.

“Yeah, some people have dogs who help them with things, like if they can’t see or hear or need other kinds of help. The vest means the dog is working, so you can’t just run up and pet it.”

“Can the dog go on a break, like you do?” Tae-yeon asks hopefully, curious eyes boring into him, and Hak chuckles.

“You can go ask the lady _very nicely_ if you can pet the dog,” Hak agrees, stressing the idea, and Tae-yeon nods gravely before grinning and approaching the young woman.

“Excuse me?” Tae-yeon pipes up, his hands behind his back as he gets her attention.

Her bright red hair swishes in the breeze as she turns to look at him, blinking curiously.

“Yes?”

“I really like your doggy! Can he take a break, and can I pet him?” Tae-yeon asks, and Hak can hear his enthusiasm from a few feet away and grins.

The young woman tilts her head, catching Hak’s gaze briefly before she smiles at Tae-yeon.

“What a polite little guy you are! Yes, I think a break is a good idea!”

She turns to the dog, giving it a signal as she says, “Ao, it’s break time! Say hello to our new friend.”

Tae-yeon practically squeals with joy, but contains it long enough to let Ao sniff him before reaching to actually touch the dog’s fur.

Hak breathes a sigh of relief at his little brother’s caution and then approaches, catching his neighbor’s attention.

“Look, big brother!” Tae-yeon grins, letting Ao lick his fingers. “This is Ao! Isn’t he sweet?”

Hak lets Ao sniff his fingers, too, and offers his brother a lopsided grin. “He’s a very nice dog. Did you introduce yourself to his owner, too?”

Tae-yeon’s eyes go comically wide before he turns to the young woman quickly and offers a hand. “My name’s Tae-yeon! I’ve five! This is my big brother, Hak!”

“It’s nice to meet you, Tae-yeon!” The young woman smiles, shaking the offered tiny hand. “My name is Yona.”

“What kind of dog is Ao?” Tae-yeon asks eagerly, and Hak realizes that, for all his brother’s enthusiasm over dogs, they haven’t really taken the time to help him learn different breeds. Oops.

“He’s a German Shepherd,” Yona says cheerfully, stroking Ao’s ears. “He helps me get around places I don’t go a lot, because my eyes don’t work all that well any more.”

“Are you _blind_?” Tae-yeon gasps, and Yona laughs. 

“Not all the way yet,” she assures him, and Tae-yeon sighs. “I can tell that your hair is yellow, and that your brother is lots taller than you. But it’s hard for me to see everything around me, so Ao helps me walk around obstacles and find things if I drop them and things like that.”

Hak’s pretty sure there’s more to it than that, but Yona is wisely keeping it simply for his baby brother, which he appreciates. He hopes she can tell he’s smiling gratefully at her.

“Good boy, Ao!” Tae-yeon proclaims, reaching to carefully wrap the dog in a hug. “Keep Yona safe, okay?”

Yona giggles as Ao barks, head-butting Tae-yeon gently.

“He likes you!” She declares, smiling brightly.

“Is Ao’s break time over?” Tae-yeon asks, glancing up at Hak, who checks his watch.

“We should head back so Grandpa can pick you up,” he decides, hesitating slightly.

“I was on my way back to the building, so if you don’t mind some company, I’ll walk back with you,” Yona offers, smiling lightly.

“What do you think, little bro? Want to walk back with Yona and Ao?”

Tae-yeon nods so sharply that Hak’s sure he’s going to have whiplash and he laughs, setting a hand on his brother’s head to stop the harsh action.

“All right, let’s head back.”

They begin the walk back down the block, Tae-yeon still asking questions about Ao and about Yona in general, which she answers cheerfully and in a way that the little guy can wrap his head around.

Hak’s phone rings as they’re nearing the building and he pauses to fish it out of his pocket, not even bothering to look at the name.

“Hi, Gramps.”

“I’m sorry, Hak,” his grandfather’s voice rumbles from the other end. “I’m going to be a little later than I planned getting back to town tonight. Can you keep Tae-yeon for another hour or two?”

Hak doesn’t even blink. “Yeah, no problem. We’ll find dinner and something to keep us occupied until you can come get him.”

His grandfather sighs in relief and Hak resists the urge to chuckle at the old man.

“I know this isn’t the most exciting way to spend your Friday night,” Mun-dok continues, but Hak interrupts, “What’re you talking about, Old Man? I love hanging out with my baby brother. If you’re going to be later, let me know and he can just spend the night.”

Mun-dok sighs again and agrees to keep him posted before they say goodbye and Tae-yeon asks, “Do I get to have a sleepover?”

“We’ll see what time Grandpa gets back,” Hak warns, “but it’s very possible. I need to feed you dinner, at least.”

“Can Miss Yona come for dinner?” Tae-yeon asks, beaming and pleading in that way he’s perfected.

“What—I—Well, yeah, if she wants, I guess,” Hak stammers, glancing at his neighbor cautiously. “But you still need to tell me what you want for dinner.”

“Pizza!” Tae-yeon chirps, skipping ahead to greet a neighbor who’s headed out somewhere for the evening.

“Uh,” Hak starts, shifting towards Yona slightly. “You really don’t have to feel obligated to come for dinner, but he’d really like it, obviously.”

Yona smiles kindly at him, waving a hand. “Ao and I would love to join you both for dinner. Wouldn’t we, Ao?”

The dog at her heel gives a short “woof” and Hak runs a hand through his hair. 

“All right. Pizza for three, then. Unless Ao eats pizza, too.”

Yona rolls her eyes at him and Hak laughs. “Didn’t think so.”

“Tae-yeon!” He says as they catch up to his brother, who’s holding the building door open for a couple more neighbors. “You win. Ao and Yona are going to join us for dinner.”

Tae-yeon lights up but doesn’t let go of the door to cheer like he’d expected, and Hak counts that as progress.

Half an hour later, they’re sitting down to pizza, Ao settled under Yona’s chair and Tae-yeon beaming from the chair next to her.

An hour after that, Tae-yeon is grinning and introducing their grandfather to Yona and Ao, informing Mun-dok carefully, “He’s a German Shepherd, and he helps Yona see things!”

Mun-dok nods his understanding, offering a hand to Yona along with a significant glance at Hak, who tries to ignore it.

A month later, they go on their first official date.

Within a year, Tae-yeon is beaming as he helps Ao lead Yona down the aisle, and Hak grins as he remembers that first meeting.


	3. Promenade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hak plans to win a bet. Yona helps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Modern high school AU : “My friend bet me $20 that I wouldn’t take an underclassman to senior prom and I will be $20 richer and that doesn’t invalidate the question you’re super cute”
> 
> On the idea that prom is for junior & senior students (last two years of high school, so 17-18ish). If I remember high school correctly, freshmen and sophomores could only go if a junior or senior invited them. At least, at my high school.

Hak really hadn’t been planning to attend his senior prom.

He hadn’t been to his junior prom, and really had no desire to go to senior, but Jae-ha had been incredibly persistent in his persuasion.

For the last five weeks, Droopy-Eyes had been increasing the amount of the bet, and honestly, Hak had let it go this long out of pure curiosity as to how high the number would get.

It had started with thirty dollars, which was hardly worth it—that was the cost of tickets, sure, but there were other expenses to think about if one were going to do prom properly.

Now it was up to seventy dollars, the same as it had been for a week a half, and Hak figured Jae-ha was about done upping the ante, so it was now or never.

His annoying friend even had a specific girl in mind for Hak to ask: a tiny redheaded sophomore Hak rarely paid any attention to as they had no classes together. She usually hung out with the boy genius, Yoon, and a quiet lone-wolf type Jae-ha had told him was named Shin-ah.

Today was the day, Hak had decided. He’d ask her, and he’d hopefully be seventy bucks closer to the car he’d been eyeing for a year.

He had spent the last week figuring out Yona’s schedule and planned to ask her with the fewest people around, just in case.

Which meant at the end of the school day, when she usually stayed to talk to her final teacher of the day long enough that the halls were practically empty by the time she reached her locker.

Hak waited for her at said locker, leaning against it casually but tapping his fingers impatiently as he waited for her to round the corner.

Yona didn’t even seem to notice him until her fingers reached to twirl her lock and met his shoulder instead.

She blinked, tilting her head and asking cautiously, “Is there something I can help you with?”

Hak shifted against her locker and asked, “Yona, right?”

“Yes,” she replied, still blinking at him curiously. “And you are…?”

“Hak,” he replied, lifting a hand. “And uh… listen, I’m not even going to try to lie to you. My friend made me a bet that I wouldn’t ask an underclassman to prom and, like, of course I want to win, but that doesn’t invalidate the question. Do you want to go to prom?”

Yona continued to blink at him for several agonizing seconds before her jaw dropped as she asked, “I’m sorry? Say that again?”

“Would you like to come with me to my senior prom?” Hak reiterated, watching Yona’s face carefully.

“You’re serious,” Yona whispered, her eyes wide. “You’re asking me, an underclassman you don’t even know, to go with you to prom so you can _win a bet_?”

Hak scratched the back of his head. “That’s about it, yeah.”

Yona kept blinking at him.

Hak stared back at her, waving a hand in front of her face.

“Um, Yona? I don’t have all afternoon. Yes or no?”

Finally, Yona’s jaw worked as she fixed him with a stare and asked, “Do you realize how _close_ you’ve cut this?”

It was his turn to blink now as Yona went on, “Prom is in _two weeks_, Hak. _TWO. WEEKS_! That’s barely enough time to arrange things!”

She ranted on for a few more minutes about things Hak didn’t entirely understand, and when she paused, he asked, “So… is that a yes or a no?”

Yona sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, and said quietly, “You’re really lucky you’re so cute and ignorant.”

Before Hak could even process that statement, Yona looked up at him, eyes determined, and said, “You’re lucky I have friends who will jump at the chance to help me pull this off. Yes, I will go with you to prom.”

Hak blinked one final time before Yona snatched up his hand and pulled him toward the parking lot, announcing, “We’re going to Lili’s.”

Lili, it turned out, was a master last-minute outfit planner.

At least, that was what it seemed to Hak.

He really, truly, hadn’t paid attention to how early girls got ready for prom.

Lili had gaped at them for a moment as she’d pulled open her front door, listening quietly as Yona had explained the situation, and then had _shrieked_ so loudly that Hak had thought the neighbors might call the police.

She’d whisked them up to her bedroom, and that was where Hak currently sat, tapping his foot as he waited for Yona to try on _yet another_ dress.

Lili's parents were in the fashion industry, she had told him, and thus her home was filled with large closets of outfits of all kinds, which seemed excessive.

He wasn’t even sure why he had to be here, but Lili kept glaring at him any time he sighed or glanced at his watch, so he decided to sit as quietly as possible until they made a decision.

_Finally_ Lili gasped, declaring, “That one is _perfect_!”

“You think so?” Yona asked, glancing down at the gown—for that was truly the only way to describe it. “It’s not too… much?”

“Of course not!” Lili insisted, waving a hand. “You look great! Doesn’t she, Hak?”

Lili turned to him, but Hak could only stare.

That was one way to make him look forward to prom, he decided fleetingly, barely registering Lili or Yona’s expressions.

Thinking about Yona in this dress for two weeks was going to be _torture._

Curse Jae-ha and his stupid bet, and Lili and her stupid fashion skills.

He really wished Lili hadn’t made him sit in on this.

“Hak?” Lili asked, hands on her hips as she stared at him expectantly.

“Um,” was all he could manage, lifting his shoulders in a shrug that had Lili squealing and rushing to Yona’s side as she exclaimed, “I _knew_ it! I told you he’d love you in this one!”

The dress she had declared “perfect” was mostly black, but it looked like a sakura tree, with pink petals and branches everywhere. Hak was sure there were diamonds or something sewn into the dress, because it sparkled when Yona moved. The sleeves were most definitely see-through and sparkly, and Hak was already regretting accepting this bet.

Yona glanced at him, curious, and he feigned nonchalance.

“Are you done now?”

Lili scowled at him briefly before smiling smugly and informing him, “No, now it’s your turn.”

Hak could only groan and let her tug him over to a closet full of tuxes.

An _hour_ later, Lili declared him perfect, too, and Hak sighed, tugging at the tie.

“Can I go now?”

Lili rolled her eyes at him but nodded, and he slid back amongst the tuxedos to change.

X

When prom night finally rolled around, Hak could only grin as Jae-ha gaped at him, Yona tucked into his side with a nervous smile.

“Well,” his friend choked out, raising an eyebrow. “I guess I owe you.”

Hak only smirked and tugged Yona onto the dance floor, ignoring the stares and low whistles of his classmates. They all thought he’d planned to skip prom, as he hadn’t said anything to the contrary in the last two weeks, and he just grinned at most of them, content to let them watch him dance with Yona.

Her father was rather strict, so he’d promised to bring her home by eleven, but he planned to enjoy her company until then.

He’d found her to be quite the spitfire in their conversations since the day he’d initially asked this of her. They’d spent quite a few afternoons together, making sure her father approved of the whole idea and of Hak.

He’d even been able to help Yona with homework, which worked perfectly as a cover for his plan to keep this whole thing a surprise for his classmates. When anyone asked what he was doing with Yona, he’d assured them he was tutoring her.

They were probably going to wonder just _what_ he’d been tutoring her in after tonight, but he could handle the jabs, and planned to shut down anyone who got too suggestive.

Yona had even become a pretty good friend the last two weeks, and he planned to keep up the friendship if she was okay with it.

For now, he planned to dance with her and get her home by curfew.

And go home with another seventy bucks, but at this point, that was a bonus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: Kid I go to church with told his mom _the night before_ that he was going to prom. He took care of all of his stuff (corsage, tux, etc) in less than 24 hours. Idk how, but he managed it. I was impressed, but also a little bit disappointed that something didn’t fail. They weren't going to tell anybody and just have it be a surprise, but apparently decided that wasn't going to work.
> 
> I never went to prom because I thought it was stupid, but I remember it being kind of a major deal when a guy broke up with his girlfriend less than a month before prom. My friends had a couple of weeks to prepare for senior prom because of when this group of girls asked them, and two of them ended up borrowing dresses instead of buying. *shrug*


	4. Run-In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I ran into my ex at the supermarket and you saw my distress and pretended we’re dating thanks AU”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idek, guys. *shrug*

She had only come in here to buy groceries, seriously.

Running into an old boyfriend who was still obsessed with her had not been in the plan today.

Tae-jun won’t leave her alone, though. (He never had been good at reading her body language.)

He babbles on and on about how much he misses her, and how much he’s been working at his brother’s company, and all manner of other boring, uncomfortable chit-chat, while Yona just stands there and tries to find a way out of the conversation.

Every time Tae-jun pauses for breath, she thinks she can get away from him, but he launches into another mini-speech that keeps her rooted to the spot out of sheer politeness.

“There you are!” 

Yona nearly jumps at the interruption, turning wide eyes on the vaguely-familiar man now standing next to her.

“I was wondering what was taking you so long!” the man continues, grinning at her. 

Yona flashes him a confused look before he loops one arm around her shoulder and offers his other hand to Tae-jun.

“Hi, I’m Hak!”

Tae-jun gapes at the arm draped around her for a moment before remembering himself and taking Hak’s hand.

“Tae-jun.”

“Nice to meet you, Tae-jun!” Hak practically chirps, but Yona feels the tension in his body as the two men stare at each other.

“Well, we’d love to stay and chat, but we’ve got somewhere to be,” Hak says finally, glancing down at her. “Isn’t that right, babe?”

Yona blinks at him but forces herself to smile quickly and keep up the act.

“That’s right, I almost forgot! We’d better get going!”

She turns to Tae-jun, putting on her best apologetic face, and offers, “It was nice to see you again, Tae-jun.”

He stammers for a moment before nodding awkwardly and rushing off toward the doors, clearly in a hurry to get out of the building and away from them.

Yona sighs, shifting to look at Hak.

“Thank you.”

“Ex-boyfriend?” He guesses, grinning at her, and it takes her a moment to reply, “Uh, yeah. I haven’t run into him in a long time, and he wouldn’t stop talking.”

“I kind of figured. He’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, is he?”

Yona sighs again, rolling her eyes. “No, he’s not. Thanks for the help.”

“Any time,” Hak grins again, and her brain goes fuzzy as he slides his arm away from her shoulders and fishes a pen from his pocket.

Yona blinks at him as he grips her wrist carefully, scribbling a series of numbers on the back of her hand.

As he puts the cap back on the pen, he explains, “If you ever run into him again and need help shutting him up, let me know. I’ll fake another emergency or something.”

Yona gapes at him just long enough for Hak to start laughing at her, tugging playfully at a strand of hair that’s escaped her headband.

“I promise I just want to help.”

Yona blinks at the phone number, still processing the last few minutes, and Hak’s hand slides into her line of sight, tapping her chin up gently to meet his gaze.

“I mean it. If you need anything, just text me.”

“Uhm… Yeah. Okay. Thank you,” Yona stammers, blinking as Hak’s hand slips away from her chin.

“Anytime,” he grins, winking and beginning to whistle as he walks away, leaving her to blink for several long moments.

_Groceries!_

Flushing and shaking her head quickly, Yona goes back to her errand, glancing periodically at the numbers on her hand, which miraculously don't rub off before she gets home.

As soon as the groceries have been put away, she rushes to add the number to her contacts, contemplating his intervention.

Her phone pings with a new notification and Yona gapes again as the picture materializes on the screen: Hak walking out of the very store they’d been in. 

It’s then that she realizes that he’s semi-famous for some martial arts accomplishment she doesn’t pay attention to.

Suddenly Tae-jun’s stare makes a lot more sense.

And she’s got a low-level celebrity’s _phone number!_

And he wants her to _stay in touch!_

The revelation is entirely too much and Yona squeals before falling onto her couch and spending the next hour learning everything she can about him in case of another run-in like today’s.


	5. Flower, Gleam and Glow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Soulmate AU wherein your wounds cause flowers to grow on your soulmate in the same spot. I took it just a smidge further than that. It feels like it needs a little more something, but idk.  
Anime/manga timeline.

Yona had never paid attention, growing up, to the location of the flowers that would randomly bloom from her skin. It was the _number_ of them that had concerned her, the fact that her soulmate was constantly sustaining random cuts or whatever was causing her flowers.

She, on the other hand, rarely got injured, so her soulmate probably didn’t even know they _had_ one.

Soo-won rarely seemed to have any scratches or wounds, but still she held out hope that they could be soulmates, somehow.

Hak always seemed to have cuts and things, but she’d never made any connection between his cuts and her flowers.

Nothing really registered after Soo-won took control of the castle and she and Hak fled. She was too shocked to notice much of anything during those first days.

But after they left Fuuga, when Tae-jun and his men attacked, it clicked.

The second that poisoned arrow had dug itself into Hak’s back, the familiar feeling of a flower blooming from her own back had Yona freezing in place more than the arrows had.

Familiar switched to painful as Hak wrenched the arrow free, and she hadn’t understood the feeling until eavesdropping on Tae-jun and his men.

Hak was going to die, and she had only just realized they were bound together by more than friendship.

So she ran. Ran into the man ready to kill her protector. Ran from Tae-jun, leaving her hair in his grip with one slice, his sword gripped awkwardly in both hands. Ran to Hak, waving the weapon wildly.

Tae-jun’s men backed off long enough for her to rush to Hak, ignoring his insistence that she flee.

“I’ll never forgive you if you die!” The cry ripped from her lips before they both plunged into the trees below, the only feeling that of new flowers blooming as Hak took the brunt of the injuries.

It was like her life flashed before her eyes then: all the times she’d brushed off Min-soo’s looks between her and Hak at a new injury and its mirrored flower; all the times her father had asked about a flower blooming on her body as Hak had nursed a new injury and she’d simply shrugged.

Everything she’d squashed came rushing back as they fell, and Yona clung to Hak, praying that they would both be okay.

\--

“Did you know?” she asks days later, after Yun has cured the poison and Hak has woken up.

“Did I know what?” Hak asks, wincing as he adjusts against the wall next to her. He’s still sore, though trying to hide it from her and Yun.

“About our flowers,” Yona elaborates, watching his movements carefully.

Hak stays quiet for so long that Yona reaches for a nearby knife, ignoring Hak’s yelp of surprise as she nicks her own finger. 

He reaches for her wrist, scowling at her as he asks, “What did you—”

He never finishes his question, too distracted by the small flower winding its way along his own finger.

“Ah,” he breathes, blinking at her. “That makes a lot of sense.”

“So you didn’t see it, either,” Yona says quietly, holding eye contact. She doesn’t think she could look away if she wanted to.

Hak holds her gaze, only breaking it to blink, and Yona finds herself scooting closer to him, so their shoulders bump.

Hak’s head tilts minutely to the side and Yona tilts her just a bit the other way, marveling at the color of his eyes.

His flowered hand finds her injured one, the flower brushing her cut, and to her surprise, it feels like the skin knits itself back together. It’s an itchy feeling, but not uncomfortably so.

She pulls her finger back toward her face, finding tiny thorns acting as stitches, and hears Hak suck in a breath.

His hand wraps around her wrist, gently tugging her finger to his lips so he can kiss the healing injury.

Yona stares, her gaze bouncing between his eyes and their hands, and finds Hak’s face inching closer to hers every time she breaks eye contact.

It’s her turn to suck in a breath, and Hak simply grins lopsidedly at her before his lips cover hers in the gentlest of touches.

For a moment, Yona forgets how to breathe.

Hak pulls back just enough to meet her gaze, a sparkle in his eyes as he wordlessly tucks his fingers under her chin, his thumb resting below her lips. 

As soon as she blinks and inhales, his lips slot over hers, as if he’s chasing her breath.

Yona squeaks slightly, surprised, and hears Hak chuckle against her mouth as he gently pries her lips apart just a little, his thumb tugging carefully as his tongue pushes slowly.

Startled, Yona lets him have what he wants, sighing into him and finally closing her eyes as she tries to mimic his actions.

The moment is broken as something crashes on the other side of the room and Yona’s eyes fly open as Hak groans in disappointment, letting her wrench herself away from him.

The priest, Ik-su, waves sheepishly from his spot on the floor, and Yona lunges over to help him stand back up.

(They never do get much time alone after that, what with Boy Genius joining them and finding the Dragons. Hak curses Ik-su more often than not until Yona takes back the kingdom and makes him her king.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Guess where I stole the chapter title from. Lol.)


	6. Lipstick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What on earth was she _thinking_, buying flavored lip gloss?
> 
> Probably Lili had talked her into it on their last shopping trip or something.
> 
> This was going to be bad, Hak could already tell."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IDK, y'all. A little more Mature than the previous chapters, but I'm not going to call it Explicit.  
Modern "Married Life" AU

Hak had never been so tempted by anything in his entire life.

And Yona, as usual, was oblivious.

What on earth was she _thinking_, buying flavored lip gloss?

Probably Lili had talked her into it on their last shopping trip or something.

This was going to be bad, Hak could already tell.

He’d only kissed her once after she’d purchased the gloss, just a quick good morning peck, and the taste of the lip gloss had lingered _all day._

It wasn’t his favorite, that was for sure. If he was going to have a taste linger in his mouth all day, then he’d prefer it to be one he actually _liked_, thank you very much.

So, carefully and quietly, he’d checked the tube for any hint as to where it had come from.

Eventually, the internet provided an answer, and a host of new opportunities, and Hak grinned.

He “accidentally” lost Yona’s stupid blueberry gloss, replacing it with a honey-flavored one that he much preferred.

But a lady had to have options, he insisted, as Valentine’s Day and her birthday both drew closer, and he happily presented her with several other options, including a box of chocolate lipsticks.

_Those_ proved to be the most tempting yet, and Yona refused to even open the box unless she was feeling particularly affectionate.

Not that Hak particularly minded. The lip glosses worked quite well for everyday kisses.

Tonight, though, is their anniversary, and Hak is more than happy to spend all night with his wife.

Yona’s already home by the time he gets off work, and he’s pleasantly surprised to see her phone on its charging dock, turned off if his eyes don’t deceive him.

He can hear Yona puttering around in the bedroom, probably changing clothes, and decides to sit and wait, settling at the kitchen counter to scroll through online menus.

They’d already decided not to make reservations anywhere, and while Hak usually did the cooking, he’d had nothing planned for tonight.

He hears Yona before he feels her, her hands slipping around him as her chin nudges into his back.

“Hi,” he chuckles, because that kind of tickles, and Yona rests her cheek against his shirt.

“What are you doing?” she asks slowly, fingers roaming, and Hak stops scrolling.

“Well, I _was_ looking for dinner.”

Yona hums against his shoulder blade and asks, “Did you find something?”

“I was sort of interrupted,” Hak replies playfully, grabbing one of her hands to stop some of the roaming. “What are you hungry for?”

The second the question’s out of his mouth, he pauses, and Yona’s hand stills for a split second before it reaches the top button of his shirt.

Carefully, she unbuttons the whole shirt, ignoring his question until the last button is undone.

“I think we should start with dessert,” she purrs as she spins his stool so he’s facing her, her hands on his shoulders.

Hak’s mouth goes dry as he recognizes the color on her lips.

She’s wearing one of the chocolate lipsticks, and Hak almost curses his past self. Judging by the color, it’s the strawberry one, and he stares.

He stares for so long that Yona grins at him in that sultry way she’s perfected over five years of marriage, and before he knows it, she’s sliding into his lap.

Hak finds himself breathless for a few seconds, but Yona’s fingers reground him as they tilt his head to meet her gaze.

She’s a little less vixen now, a little more concerned, and God, he’d better fix that.

So he settles one hand at the small of her back, the other at her neck, and pulls her into a kiss.

Yona doesn’t protest, though she does squeak a little, and Hak grins against her lips, letting her pull her face just far enough away that he can see her eyes.

“What was that about dessert?” he breathes, and doesn’t even give her time to respond, though her fingers move to continue roaming his chest.

Hak devours Yona slowly, carefully licking every last bit of strawberry-flavored chocolate from her lips. His toes curl in his shoes with every sigh and whine and mewling moan that floats out of her, determined to commit them all to memory.

He chases her tongue with his, positive that she’s licked her lips since applying the lipstick, and is rewarded with her body melting against him, no resistance as he seeks out the chocolatey residue everywhere his lips and tongue can reach.

By the time he’s satisfied he’s gotten all the lipstick from her mouth, Yona is a panting mess in his arms, nearly collapsing against his chest.

“Are you ready for actual food now?” he asks, chuckling, and Yona shakes her head.

“Nap first,” she replies shakily, and Hak grins, kissing her nose.

“Tell me what you want for dinner and I promise you can nap until it gets here.”

Yona grunts, shifting and flailing a hand toward the counter. 

Hak takes pity on her and hands her his phone, letting her pick her favorite dish from the Italian place across town. He doesn’t even think twice about the ridiculous delivery fee, just confirms their order and sets his phone back on the counter. Then, he shifts his grip and stands, going only as far as the couch before he maneuvers himself down so that Yona rests on top of him, her hair tickling his chin.

“Sleep?” Yona mumbles, blinking at him, and Hak traces circles on her back until she’s snoring softly.

Maybe saving the chocolate lipstick for special occasions had been the best plan, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chocolate lipstick box is based off of [this one from Yumbles.](https://www.yumbles.com/azra-chocolates/edible-chocolate-lipstick.html)


	7. Ice Skating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hak tries to teach Yona to skate. Established friendship, getting together, modern AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was meant to be a one-prompt AU of sentences I found on Pinterest, but then I decided to see how many of the sentences I could work in and it ended up being basically all of them. Haha. I did adjust a few of them from their original phrasing to fit my devices, but they’re there.

This was not going terribly well, Hak decided, hiding a smirk.

The bench Yona had plunked herself down on was, thankfully, void of any other skaters to comment on her lack of skill.

“I _told you_ I couldn’t ice skate,” she lamented quietly, avoiding his gaze.

Hak sighed, mumbling, “I didn’t realize how serious you were. My five-year-old brother skates better than you.” How a 16-year-old had gone her entire life without learning to skate was beyond him.

“What?” Yona squeaked, looking around the rink. Sure enough, Tae-yeon was flying across the ice, grinning at one of his friends from school who kept pace.

“Well, he’s been skating since he could walk!” Yona replied defensively, clearly frustrated at the comparison.

“We’ve been skating for 20 minutes and you’ve fallen on your face four times,” he deadpanned, ignoring the glare the redhead threw at him.

“Do you think this would be easier if I had some sort of magic power?”

The question came out of left field and Hak snorted.

“_No_, I don’t think ice skating would be easier if you had ‘magic powers’.”

Yona pouted, still seated, and Hak sighed.

“Here,” he decided, offering her his arm. At Yona’s questioning look, he explained, “Hang onto me. You shouldn’t fall then.”

“Shouldn’t?” Yona asked, raising an eyebrow.

“If I fall, we’re both screwed,” Hak shrugged.

Yona paused for a moment, frowning at him, before finally grabbing hold of his arm.

He held firm as she stood, still shakily, and let her lean on him to get her balance.

“Ready?”

Yona sucked in a breath, visibly steeling herself and nodding sharply.

With that, they headed back onto the ice slowly, Hak letting Yona set the pace. He did his best to shield her from the more enthusiastic skaters around them, his brother included, and tried not to laugh at her startled reactions when she wobbled.

He was there to help her learn to skate, not make it more difficult.

Twenty more minutes later, she was still clingy, and Hak was trying not to flinch as her fingers dug in a little harder than necessary. She still didn’t feel comfortable enough to let go of his arm and skate by herself. 

Not that he particularly minded her arm locked around his. It was cute, and not in that “little kid learning to skate” way.

So he found Yona cute. His cousins would give him grief for it if he ever voiced it, but they’d suspected it for a while.

It was part of the reason he’d invited her skating. His family liked to skate together, and he figured Yona might as well join them, since she was in and out of their house frequently since becoming friends with him and his cousins. When he’d learned that she had never been skating before, he’d been determined to teach her sooner rather than later.

“Sorry!” Yona yelped as she nearly fell again, and Hak chuckled as he steadied her.

“Believe me, I can deal with a cute clingy girl as long as necessary,” he assured her quietly, delighting in the pink tinge to her cheeks that he suspected wasn’t just from the cold of the rink.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Yona asked, frowning at him, and he raised an eyebrow at her.

“Did you miss the part where I called you _cute_?” Any other girl might have blushed at the compliment.

“I was focused more on the _clingy_ part,” she snapped back, scowling.

Hak shrugged, the motion causing Yona’s chin to slide against his arm, and replied, “You’re literally clinging to my arm for dear life. That’s called clingy.”

Yona huffed out a breath, loosening her grip enough that he laughed at her.

“You’re still clingy. Good thing you’re cute.”

“Are you saying you wouldn’t be helping me if I wasn’t cute?”

The question caught him off-guard and Hak blinked down at her.

“Well, I’d be less inclined to let you cling for so long,” he finally replied, smirking.

Yona scowled at him briefly before loosening her grip further, a determined set to her jaw.

Hak rolled his eyes, tugging just enough to pull her off-balance again. He grinned innocently down at her when she glared.

Yona _humph_ed but kept skating, her movements a little more confident with every loop around the rink. She still kept a grip on his arm, but it grew much lighter as her confidence grew, and Hak waited for the moment she dropped his arm altogether.

It came later than he expected, and it almost looked like Yona didn’t really want to let go, but he slid his arm out of her grip and let her skate a couple of strong paces by herself.

She beamed at him and then, almost in slow motion, lost her balance again.

Hak shoved himself forward to catch her before she fell, but his skates got tangled with hers and he braced himself for the impact, trying to keep his head high enough so it didn’t strike the ice.

Yona landed on top of him, unharmed as he’d intended, and her fingers stayed tangled in his sweatshirt for several long moments as she blinked at him.

“You okay?” he asked, shifting to sit up with her still cradled against him.

Yona’s knees squeezed his thighs as she carefully carded a hand through his hair, her eyes bright with worry. “I’m fine. Did you hit your head?”

“I don’t think so, but you can keep doing that either way,” he heard himself saying, and damn those pretty amethyst eyes for searching his so carefully.

Her fingers stilled very briefly and Hak almost whined when they reached the nape of his neck.

“Are you _sure_ you’re okay?” Yona persisted, and the minute shifting of her legs made him very aware that there were kids nearby.

“How about we take a break?” he suggested, and he wasn’t sure if he was requesting it for her or himself at this point.

Yona scrambled off of him and he pushed himself to his feet before she could get hers under her again, offering her his hands once more. 

Was it his imagination, or was she blushing as she looked away?

“Cocoa,” he said quickly, and Yona blinked at him.

“My treat,” he insisted, tugging her carefully off of the rink.

It was late enough in the evening, now, that people were beginning to head home. Hak looked for Tae-yeon and found their grandfather watching him and Yona carefully. The old man waved, a clear indicator that he was taking Tae-yeon home, and Hak waved back in acknowledgement as he led Yona to an empty bench.

“I’ll be right back.”

He headed for his grandfather first, ruffling Tae-yeon’s hair as he said goodnight, and then headed for the concession stand.

He returned to Yona with a half-full cup in hand, shrugging at her questioning look. “They’re closing up for the night. That’s literally the last cup they could make. On the plus side, they gave it to me for free.”

“Oh,” she breathed, staring hard at the steaming liquid before she blinked up at him. “Do you want to share?”

He suddenly wanted nothing more, but shook his head, insisting, “If you don’t finish it, I will.”

Instead, he turned his focus on their skates, undoing first his and then, to her surprise, Yona’s.

He pulled each foot from its skate carefully, watching to be sure she didn’t spill the cocoa, and she just gaped at him.

Her socks had snowmen on them. How fitting, he grinned as he set the skates aside. He didn’t bother with shoes, too distracted by the tiny hole in her left sock. He could just see a flash of pink that he assumed was nail polish, and he was overcome with a desire to pull her socks off and find out.

“Hak?” Yona asked from above him, and he turned his gaze back to her. She looked confused, but there was something behind the confusion. Her cheeks were pink again.

“Yona?”

Her throat worked as she swallowed before she held out the cocoa cup. “Did you—um—did you want to finish this?”

He was going to regret this later, probably, but he’d regret it more if he let the moment pass him by, Hak decided.

He shoved himself upward, one hand pulling the cup from her hands to set it out of harm’s way. The other hand went for the base of her skull, tangling in the red hair he’d been itching to touch all afternoon. (Never mind their entire friendship.)

Now free of the stupid cocoa cup, his other hand found its way to Yona’s jaw as he molded his mouth to hers, elation running through his veins as she kissed him back tentatively, her fingers clinging to his sweatshirt once more.

She tasted like hot chocolate, and Hak very nearly died on the spot.

He wanted to keep her here forever, lose himself in the feeling of her.

Unfortunately, the last employee to leave for the night had no such desire. He interrupted with a firm “Ahem” accompanied by the rhythmic tapping of his foot, and Hak reluctantly loosened his grip on Yona’s face.

“We’re closing,” the young man informed them with a scowl, and Hak smiled sheepishly at him.

“Yeah. We’ll get out of your hair,” he assured the other man, nudging Yona’s shoes over to her and pulling on his own.

Yona’s face was bright red, and she pulled her shoes on quickly, snatching her coat up from the bench and hurriedly putting it back on, bouncing on her toes.

Hak was impressed with her balance back in shoes -- until she took a step. Chuckling, he steadied her again, assuring her, “You’re all right. It takes a minute to get used to being off the ice.”

Yona took a breath, steadying herself, and he let her walk ahead of him a couple of steps before catching up and sliding his hand around hers.

She blinked up at him, still blushing, and he grinned with a confidence he didn’t fully feel.

“Let’s get you home, huh?”

Yona nodded, letting him tug her gently to his car.

They were both quiet on the drive, and Yona was a lot more fidgety than normal as he parked in her driveway.

“Everything all right over there?” Hak asked, shifting in his seat and waiting for Yona to make eye contact.

It took a minute, but those amethyst eyes met his and Hak was pretty sure he was going to stop breathing.

“Did you really want to teach me to skate, or did you just want an excuse to be close?”

It was his turn to blink and process the question, tilting his head curiously.

“You really think I’d only teach you to skate for selfish reasons?”

Yona shrugged, holding his gaze. “You did say you didn’t mind me clinging.”

Hak snorted. “You think I would have kissed anybody else I was teaching to skate?”

That seemed to catch Yona off-guard, and he grinned as she broke eye contact, shy.

“I taught you to skate because you’re always in and out of our house, and I figured Tae-yeon would like to have you come with us,” he assured her, waiting for her to meet his gaze again before he continued, “and maybe a _little bit_ because I wanted an excuse to stick closer.”

“A little bit?” Yona raised an eyebrow at him.

“A little,” he repeated quietly, leaning closer carefully.

Yona didn’t back away from him, and he dared to lean a little closer.

To his surprise, _she_ leaned a little closer to _him!_

Reigning in the jitters, Hak paused, giving her time to back away. When she didn’t, he raised a hand carefully to settle along her jaw, guiding their mouths together.

Even though she had to have been expecting it, Yona made a startled little gasp, and Hak chuckled without breaking the kiss, giving her the option to pull away.

When she stayed right where she was, he pulled her closer with a grin, tilting his head a little more and sliding his hand back into her hair.

They stayed that way for a little while, one of Yona’s hands grasping carefully at his coat, then his cheek, and finally back into his hair as the other stayed planted on his knee.

When she finally tugged herself away from him, he let her go, pleased to see that her eyes stayed closed as she caught her breath.

Resting back against the car door, Hak watched Yona carefully as she blinked at him, flushing.

“We should probably get you inside before you father starts to worry,” he said finally, and Yona squeaked in agreement before fumbling with the door handle as Hak slipped out the driver’s side.

He met her at her door, shutting it as soon as she was out, but refrained from holding her hand like he wanted to. Her father liked him, sure, but Hak was pretty sure the older man would be hesitant about his daughter coming home with a boy on her arm like that. At least suddenly. He’d give it some time before he introduced himself as a boyfriend, assuming Yona was okay with the idea.

She surprised him again at the door as he said goodnight, pushing herself up onto her toes to brush her lips over his in a quick kiss that had him standing there, dumbfounded, as she giggled and let herself into the house.

It took a solid thirty seconds for Hak to come back to himself and blink at the front door.

Yona didn’t come back out, and neither did her father, so he headed back to his car, giddy and grinning like an idiot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Indoor rink if you were curious.)


	8. First Comes Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some prompt I saw forever ago about Persons A & B in a tree and C down below yelling the KISSING song and person A assuring C that they're working on making them an aunt/uncle. I don't remember the whole prompt anymore.  
Modern-y AU

The sun is beginning to set, and Yona looks incredibly pretty with the reds and pinks behind her like this.

Hak climbs his way up the ladder to join her on what’s slowly becoming Tae-yeon’s tree house and settles next to her quietly.

After several minutes, he confesses, “I had a plan for this, but it seems stupid now. I’ve loved you since I was eight and you stole my ball at recess. You’ve been stealing my heart ever since.”

Yona blinks at him, utterly still, and he fishes the box from his pocket, popping it open carefully and offering it to her.

“I want to spend the rest of my life watching stupid movies and eating take-out with you, and wake up next to you every morning and watch the sunrise. I want to do all the stupid couple stuff I thought I hated until I realized how much I love you, and I was hoping you feel the same way.”

“Hak,” Yona breathes, tears welling in her eyes, and he can’t tell if they’re happy or sad tears, so he does the only thing he can think of. He sets the box down between their legs and sets his hands against her cheeks, pulling her into a kiss.

Yona’s tears trickle onto his hands, but he doesn’t even care, just keeps one hand on her cheek as he rests his forehead against hers.

“Hak and Yona, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage. Then comes baby in a baby carriage!” Tae-yeon suddenly sing-songs from the base of the tree, and Hak chuckles as Yona freezes.

He leans in to kiss her again, tangling his fingers into her hair before he meets Tae-yeon’s bright gaze.

“We’ve got the kissing part down, Tae-yeon. I do plan to marry Yona, and I promise you’ll be an uncle someday,” he assures his little brother easily, grinning lopsidedly.

Yona squeaks next to him and he squeezes her leg as Tae-yeon squeals and runs back toward the house, probably to tell the family what Hak’s just said.

He meets her blushing gaze with a grin, his brow furrowed playfully.

“What?”

“I can’t believe you just did that!” Yona whisper-shouts, her eyes wide.

“What? Proposing?” He grins, leaning back into her space. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while, actually.”

“Telling Tae-yeon like that!” Yona yelps, her fingers going tense against the wood beneath them.

Hak lets the hand on her knee drift over to grip her fingers, bringing them to his lips.

“He started it. I was just confirming,” he replies cheekily, kissing her knuckles.

Yona’s fingers tremble but she doesn’t remove them from his grip, staring at him for a long moment.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Thanks,” he grins, leaning closer and watching her blush deepen.

When she doesn’t respond immediately, he prods the box between them with his free hand, asking, “So? Yes or no?”

Yona’s other hand trembles as she reaches for the box, hesitation in her eyes.

Hak squeezes her fingers.

Yona bites her lip, looking away from him shyly, and picks up the box to thrust it at him.

“You should open it again.”

Hak’s breath catches and he drops her hand, reaching for the box with less grace than before. He gets it open in two tries and pulls out the ring, asking shakily, “Is that a yes?”

Yona’s face is at full blush now, but she offers her left hand with a small smile and Hak hardly breathes as he slips the ring on her finger.

He doesn’t even give her a beat to breathe before he pulls her into another kiss, tugging her close and pouring his heart into it.

Her fingers tangle into his shirt, tugging him closer, and Hak revels in the feeling of her engagement ring brushing against the fabric.

He pulls her into him, swinging her knees over his legs and loving that her fingers trail up to anchor around his neck.

The way her breath stutters as he brings his other hand to her jaw only encourages him to keep going, to gently tug her lips open so he can lose himself in the new discovery of her mouth.

It’s definitely the closest, most thorough kiss they’ve ever shared, and Hak remembers why as soon as Yona pulls away, flushed and panting.

Her fingers leave his neck and busy themselves in combing her hair, attempting to fix the mess he’s made of it.

Hak grins, ignoring her frown.

“Should we go see how much excitement Tae-yeon is causing?”

“Do we have to?”

“I guess we could take over the tree house, but Tae-yeon would probably be upset,” he offers as he stands up, tugging Yona with him.

She grimaces. “Okay, let’s go.”

Hak grins and helps her down the ladder, ready to see what his family has to say.

_What took you so long_ will probably be the main question from several of his cousins, but they’ve been giving him grief for years, so he can handle it.

As it turns out, it’s mostly congratulations and a lot of headlocks and elbows to the stomach for him, and he’s afraid Yona’s hand is going to fall off if anyone else insists on seeing the ring.

But he wouldn’t have it any other way.


	9. Arrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hak gets hurt and he and Yona talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn’t as good as it was originally because I didn’t write it all down at first, but.  
I started this FIVE YEARS AGO. What is life.  
Anime/manga timeline

He woke up to birds chirping and a pounding headache, plus a ridiculous pain in his side.

It took a minute to adjust to his surroundings, and he finally realized he was in one of the tents. 

“Leave him _be_,” Yona was hissing from outside the tent, and then Zeno was complaining about wanting to know how he was doing because it _had_ been almost 24 hours, after all.

“You are going to leave Hak alone and find something else to do,” Yona commanded, and even her stupid dragons knew that it was her Hiryuu voice, and they were smart enough to shut up and listen.

He heard them lumber off to find other things to do, and then Yona poked her head inside, her face sunshine bright as she said, “You’re awake!”

He blinked at her, and saw Shin-ah scuttle off (those eyes were creepy, Hak mused), as Yona crouched beside him, asking, “How do you feel?”

“F-fine?” he stammered as Yona checked his bandages.

“Princess, where’s Yoon?” he asked, and Yona didn’t even look up as she replied, “His arm is broken. He’s resting.”

Broken arm? “Then who…?”

“I did the bandages,” Yona said quietly, and he froze for a second.

“Yoon was able to talk me through most of it. And Shin-ah helped.”

Oh. If the furball monster had helped, then he was fine.

“Uh… thank you,” he said softly, and Yona shrugged.

“It was the least I could do after my arrow put you here.”

He froze and Yona added, “Indirectly, anyway. How much do you remember?”

Hak frowned, wracking his brain. He remembered fighting, and Yoon shrieking something about Yona and danger, but that was about it. He was surprised he hadn’t dreamt of it.

But one thing was crystal clear.

“Your arrow _saved_ me,” he said, mostly to himself, but Yona’s head jerked up and she stared at him, frowning.

“What?”

“You… you hit someone, and it kept him from hitting me,” Hak recalled, tilting his head at her.

Yona scowled.

“You were already really hurt by then. I let an arrow hit the wrong person and it started the fight that got you hurt.”

“Yon—Princess, you _saved_ my _life_,” he said again, more emphatically this time, as he tried to sit up. “Again.”

“But I got you hurt in the first place. Again,” Yona shot back, glaring at Yoon’s bag of supplies.

“You _protected_ me,” Hak tried this time, pulling himself to a proper sitting position despite Yona’s protest. “Isn’t that what you wanted? To be able to protect me?”

He watched her raise her eyes to meet his gaze and was startled to see tears trailing down her cheeks.

“Not like this,” she said quietly, so that he almost didn’t hear her. “Not when it was my fault you were in danger in the first place.”

He frowned, reaching to wipe away the tears, and Yona didn’t stop him.

“You’re always going to be in danger. That means I’m always going to put myself in danger to protect you,” Hak said resolutely.

Yona threw a hand over her mouth to stop a sob, and Hak pulled her into a hug, sighing heavily.

“It’s not your job to protect me, you know,” he said quietly. “It’s kind of creepy.”

Yona sniffed, and he smiled a little, knowing she recognized the phrase from the day he’d taken that poisoned arrow for her.

“You’re my best friend, though. I’m _supposed_ to worry about you,” Yona argued softly into his shoulder, and Hak froze.

Since when had they been on “best friend” terms?

Old friends, sure. Best friends? Not so much.

Soo-won had been closest to her best friend, and look at how that had turned out.

“I mean…” Yona paused, her hand tightening around his arm. “You’re important to me, Hak. I don’t want you to have to protect me all the time. It just ends with you hurt.”

“That’s in the job description, Princess,” Hak sighed, shrugging with a nonchalance he didn’t feel. “I told you use me so you could live, didn’t I?”

Yona frowned at him, huffing. “What good does that do if you die?”

Hak blinked. 

“You almost died yesterday,” Yona continued quietly, squeezing his hand. “And it was my fault. I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself if you hadn’t survived.”

“Eh, I’m immortal, remember?”

Yona glared at him and he reached to brush more of her tears away, frowning.

Yona shook her head, arguing, “You aren’t. You may have more endurance than most people, and people call you inhuman, but you’re not immortal. You’ve nearly died on me _twice_ now!”

“_Nearly_,” he emphasized, resting his fingers against her cheek.

Yona blinked, her eyes flashing curiously.

“And how, exactly, do you always pull through?” she asked, holding his gaze for a long moment.

“It might have something to do with this crazy princess I swore to protect,” he replied quietly, watching a blush spread under his fingertips.

“Crazy, huh?” Yona whispered, and Hak smiled slightly.

“A little bit. But I kind of like crazy.”

Yona blinked very slowly, her face turning steadily redder, and Hak inched closer, a part of his brain insisting this was a stupid thing to do.

Yona was watching him carefully, almost fearfully, and for a second he paused, sighing heavily.

Something in his midsection twinged at the action and Hak winced, drawing Yona’s attention back to his bandages.

“Let me see,” she said quickly, back in healing mode like the flip of a switch.

“I’m sure it’s fine,” he protested, holding an arm out to keep her from getting closer, but Yona swatted his hand away, reaching for his abdomen.

Her movements were sure and steady, but she was biting her lip like she was trying to keep herself from panicking as she undid the bandages, feeling along his ribs and pausing when he winced further.

Yona sighed.

“Yoon said you probably broke at least one rib when you fell.”

“I’ve had broken ribs before, Princess. It’s fine.”

Yona ignored him, checking the other bandaged areas, pausing here and there to frown at bruises like she was personally offended by them.

Which, come to think of it, she probably was. 

She blamed herself for them, he knew.

“You’re going to be purple for a while,” Yona said quietly, dabbing ointment on a particularly bad bruise. “Yoon said this would help, though.”

“Purple doesn’t bother me,” Hak replied without thinking, watching her eyes, and Yona tilted her head at him, curious.

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing,” he said quickly, shaking his head.

“If you’re sure,” Yona shrugged, replacing another bandage carefully.

She was different now, he noted not for the first time.

Before, she would have frowned at him and demanded an answer.

Now, she accepted it without question and returned to a task.

She really was changing out here, away from the palace.

Yona tilted her head at him again, frowning curiously, and Hak realized she was finished checking his injuries and had said something.

“Hak? Are you all right?”

“Fine!” he assured her quickly, waving a hand.

“You’re not, but I’m not going to push.”

“Eh?”

“You should rest,” Yona said then, standing suddenly and turning to leave the tent.  
“If you need something, let Shin-ah know. He’ll find me.”

There was something curious in her tone, and Hak frowned, wondering at the way she phrased the suggestion.

Shin-ah, huh? 

Well, he couldn’t expect Yona to just hang around camp all day, could he? Shin-ah would be the obvious choice if she didn’t want anyone to disturb him, he reasoned.

“I’m not immobile, you know,” he commented with a shrug, ignoring the twinge in his shoulder.

“You still have a fever,” Yona said easily from the tent flap.

“I do _not_,” he argued, and Yona’s hand was at his forehead in seconds, her eyes narrowed as she warned, “You _do_. And don’t you dare go wandering off on me this time.”

_This time…?_

Ah, right, he’d disappeared on her at Ik-su’s that night.

Come to think of it, she’d nearly checked him for a fever then, too.

The memory made him smile, and Yona asked, “What’s so funny?”

She was still at his side, watching him carefully, and he realized she was incredibly close--so close that it brought back another memory.

He was seized by an urge to try that again, hopefully with a different result this time.

Yona froze as he inched closer, but she kept her eyes on his, watching carefully.

Eventually, finally, he worked up the nerve to close the gap fully, watching Yona’s face turn red until her eyes slid closed just as he backed away from her.

Yona blinked slowly at him, and Hak grinned.

“It looks like you have a fever, too, Princess. Maybe you need to rest.”

“Hak!” Yona squeaked, turning away. “You’re impossible. Go back to sleep.”

“I’m actually wide awake now,” he replied, smirking slightly. “And I feel fine.”

Yona’s hands clenched into fists as she thought, and he was sure her face was scrunched in annoyance.

“Fine,” she relented eventually. “You can go visit Yoon or something.”

Hak grinned, moving to follow her out of the tent, but Yona turned then, glaring hard at him.

“But no over-exerting yourself. And _behave_. If you start something with Jae-ha or Kija, I will personally make sure you don’t leave this tent until you’re fully healed.”

Hak raised an eyebrow.

“Why does that sound like fun?”

Yona’s gaze was like fire even as the blush flared back to life on her cheeks.

“Behave, or you’ll be stuck with Kija as your bodyguard.”

“Spoilsport,” he said around a chuckle, not doubting that she’d follow through. “I promise to take it easy.”

Yona narrowed her eyes at him skeptically, but nodded and left the tent, leaving him to follow her into the sunshine.


	10. Hair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anime/manga timeline. Yona insists that Hak needs a haircut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IDK, y'all. I started this one like five years ago as well and I don't know where I was going with it so I'm calling it done.

They’re done setting up camp for the afternoon, and Yoon is starting a fire.

The others are off someplace else, supposedly to fetch more firewood and water, but he figures they’re discussing their latest shenanigans.

Yona looks at him thoughtfully and he freezes. This can’t be good.

“Hak,” she says slowly, lifting a hand toward his face.

Uh-oh.

He’s tense, ready to get up or make a smart remark, or something.

And then she says with a small frown, “You need a haircut.”

She smiles at him, her hands too close to his head, and he lets out the breath he’s been holding as a harsh laugh.

Yona’s frown deepens and Hak ignores the quip at the tip of his tongue about wrinkles.

“Is that so?” he asks instead, narrowing his eyes at her.

Yona blinks for a second, and then that Princess tone comes out as she says, “Yes. It is.”

Is it his imagination or is her voice trembling a little?

He needs to stop confusing her.

In the three years he’d lived at the castle, he’d never once had a haircut. 

He considers it, and then decides that maybe it is getting a little long. 

“Well, I’m not letting _you_ do it,” he says easily, leaning back and crossing his arms.

Yona purses her lips and gives him an annoyed look, but it’s quickly replaced with that smile.

“Then Yoon can!”

Yoon pauses at the fire, looking up. “What am I doing?”

“Giving Hak a haircut!” Yona replies brightly, adding quickly, “Please?”

Yoon frowns briefly and then agrees, “Okay. But let me finish this first.”

Yona nods, that smile still in place, and Hak sighs.

He’s not looking forward to this, especially after Yona chopped her hair off like an idiot, but at least she’s not the one wielding the sharp thing. He wouldn’t have let her if she had tried, anyway. At least Yoon mostly knows what he’s doing.

Yona tips her head at him, looking curious.

“Is something wrong, Hak?”

He blinks, watching her smile fade, and frowns at himself.

“No.”

Yona blinks for a second, like she’s not quite sure she believes him, but then she smiles again and everything is all right.

Yoon wanders over in a minute, holding a razor, and Yona backs up a little to let him work.

Hak sighs and lets the genius do whatever he’s going to do, and then Yona is beaming again and declaring, “That’s better! Thank you, Yoon.”

Yoon grunts in reply, walking off to start on dinner, and then Yona’s hand is in his hair and Hak freezes at her touch.

“I can see your eyes better now,” she says quietly, brushing his much-shorter bangs back a little.

He stares, surprised and not sure how to reply to that. 

Yona doesn’t move her hand, but she’s quiet, too, and he dares to run his hand through _her_ hair, ignoring her tiny gasp and the way her eyes widen and her hand freezes in his hair.

He tries to think of something witty to say, but the only thing he can come up with is, “I’m sorry about your hair.” 

He’d tried to say it once, when they were with Ik-su, but Yona had brushed it off.

She blinks at him now, frowning just a little, and says, “It’s not your fault.”

“It is,” he argues firmly, fiddling with a stray strand near her ear. “I should have been paying more attention when—”

“Hak, it’s _not your fault_,” Yona says, all Princess and fire, and he just stares at her, trying to come up with a reply.

“I didn’t leave Fuuga to stay hidden and be a burden on you,” Yona continues, eyes blazing like they had in Awa, and he’s lost for words again, curious and in awe and worried all at once.

She’s too reckless, much too determined, but there’s nothing he can do about it now except teach her the sword like she requested and pray that she doesn’t get too stupid in a battle.

“You’re not a burden,” he says, automatically, even though a tiny part of him doesn’t believe himself.

Neither does Yona, if her expression is any indication.

“I _am_,” she argues back as she looks away, the sadness in her voice ripping his heart open. 

“I slow you down, and you’re always trying to protect me, and you get hurt in the process, and I can’t stand to see you in danger all the time.”

He smirks and makes a strangled kind of noise, and Yona glances up at him, a tiny frown on her face.

“Did you ever think that _I_ can’t stand to see _you_ in danger?” he asks quietly, his hand brushing her cheek as she blinks at him.

“Well, Father asked you to watch out for me, so—”

“Idiot,” he finds himself saying out loud, smiling at her.

She scowls again, and he shakes his head slowly, explaining, “I didn’t do it for your father, as much as I respected him. I became general of the Wind Clan to protect you because I _wanted_ to.”

Yona looks puzzled, like she’s trying to figure out what he means, and he lets her have a second to process as he leans in closer again, watching her face turn pink as it sinks in.

“You… but… I…” she stammers, eyes wide.

“Figured it out yet, Princess?” he asks softly, the hand at her cheek floating over the blush, making it adorably worse.

He can hear footsteps and voices and knows the others are coming back, but he doesn’t care, and he closes the miniscule gap between them and ignores the shrieks from her stupid dragons.

It takes a moment, but Yona does unfreeze, and he nearly jumps when her fingers close around his robes, gripping like her life depends on it.

She pulls away first, and he doesn’t mind, because she’s staring at him so wide-eyed that he knows he’s not in trouble.

Well, with her, at least.

Jae-ha clears his throat, his arms crossed and one eyebrow raised in an expression that Hak wants to wipe off his face. Kija looks like he’s going to faint, while Zeno does a little dance and Shin-ah nods and smiles a little, Ao chattering happily from his shoulder.

Yoon has joined the dragons, his arms crossed but a knowing look in his eyes. Hak has to hand it to the kid; he really is observant. And smart to stay so quiet even though he had obviously heard pretty much every word.

Kija is clutching Jae-ha’s arm now, sputtering about the princess having been “defiled,” but Jae-ha just pats him on the shoulder gently and pries his hand off his arm.

Yona is still blushing, and Hak is still smiling like an idiot.


	11. Love in the Time of Quarantine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Modern AU. 2020-inspired.  
Yes, I really used that title.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IDK, y'all. I was off work for seven weeks and it made me think about OTPs?

Hak hadn’t _intended_ to get stuck in the same apartment as Yona for weeks on end.

Really.

It had just kind of … happened.

She’d fallen asleep on his couch after a movie one night, and he hadn’t bothered driving her home. Waking her when she was that tired usually meant trouble, so he’d let her sleep as their friends had left for the night.

They’d both been off work the next day, and Yona hadn’t felt that great, so he’d figured it was easier for her to spend the night and sleep in and see where the next day took them.

Literally overnight, however, the country had gone into a lockdown.

There had been little warning, as they’d all assumed it would happen in a week or two. It wasn’t supposed to have gone into effect so suddenly.

Nearly everything had shut down, and since neither of them was an essential or frontline employee, their jobs had notified them of their new normal: furlough for Hak, and working from home for Yona.

So that was how he found himself with a houseguest. Who couldn’t leave. For weeks.

The first few days had been okay.

After the first week, they’d begun really getting on each other’s nerves.

It was worse for Hak, being effectively unemployed. At least Yona still had work to do, albeit minimal and boring work like sending emails and making video calls. 

Hak wasn’t so lucky.

He’d enjoyed the first couple of days, sitting around and watching movies and playing games.

After that, it had gotten tedious. There were only so many ways an extrovert could entertain themselves home alone, after all.

All he wanted to do some days was talk to Yona, and she was busy working and didn’t appreciate the interruptions.

He’d taken to texting friends and even _calling_ people and trying to get them to join him in online games, but only so many people had taken him up on the offer and that got boring after a while, too.

The best part of his day was when Yona clocked out of work, but even she had an energy limit.

As introverted as Yona was, being stuck inside with only one other person all day every day had taken a toll on her, too. There were days she clocked out and fell asleep on the couch before Hak had even figured out what to do for dinner.

Eventually, though, they settled into a routine. They stopped yelling at each other after the second week. Hak started letting Yona snuggle in next to him as he played video games or watched movies after dinner. They ordered groceries and other essentials straight to his apartment and helped teach each other new cooking and baking skills.

Yona hadn’t brought any changes of clothes, and nobody who wasn’t essential was really supposed to leave their homes at all for that first couple of weeks, so Hak had gone through extra laundry with her borrowing his clothes. (That had been fun for her first few video calls with her coworkers. Sometimes Hak remembers those and laughs.)

Even after ordering new clothes rather than risk the hassle of someone bringing her clothes from her apartment, or going herself, Yona still chooses to wear his clothes much of the time.

At first it hadn’t been much of an issue, but the longer they spend stuck inside together, the more comfortable Hak becomes with seeing her in his shirts. It’s begun to cause him some mental distress recently.

She’s stolen his favorite shirt again, he notes this morning as he walks into the kitchen. There’s a reason it’s his favorite, and it seems like it’s become hers, too. Now it’s become his favorite for a new reason.

God bless whoever created leggings, Hak has decided in these last weeks. Also curse them, because every time Yona reaches for something above her head and her legs stretch and his shirt rides up on her…

Well, he has to fight very hard to keep his hands off of her.

She’s his _friend_, he reminds himself forcefully in those moments. Almost a little sister.

That’s shifted this year, he’s noticed, even before being stuck together. But this quarantine has highlighted his feelings and is causing problems. He’s constantly catching himself wanting to run his fingers through Yona’s hair or set his hands on her waist. Most recently he’s caught himself itching to kiss her, which has been a strange development.

And Yona seems absolutely oblivious, as usual. She goes about her days as normal, only pausing to ask him if he’s feeling okay or raise an eyebrow at him if he seems like he’s distracted or staring at her.

“Hak?”

Like now.

“Hm?” he asks, blinking.

When had she stepped into his space to peer up at him curiously?

“Are you feeling okay?”

She doesn’t even give him a chance to respond, her fingers pressing gently against his forehead.

Hak freezes at the touch, forcing himself to keep his eyes on Yona’s face rather than the button she’s missed on his shirt.

“I’m fine,” he tries to assure her, but her gaze bores into him for a few more moments regardless before her hand leaves his face.

“You kind of look feverish.”

“I’m fine,” he repeats, reaching around Yona to open the cabinet just above her head.

“Well, let me know if you start to feel worse,” she frowns, slipping around him toward his tiny dining table, and God does he want to pause her in her tracks.

He lets her go, though, going through the motions of pouring coffee to keep his hands and mind occupied.

Yona’s scrolling through her phone by the time he joins her at the kitchen table, her gaze thoughtful as she looks up at him.

“I’m essentially working a half-day today. I don’t know if that’s good or bad. What do I do after lunch?”

A thousand things flash through Hak’s head in an instant, but he reins in his imagination.

“You could take an afternoon nap. Or do laundry. Or clean.”

_Or kiss me._

Yona wrinkles her nose at his suggestions. “I’ll find something to do.”

Hak hums around his coffee mug and they lapse into silence until Yona begins work for the morning, making video calls and typing too many emails to count.

He busies himself with the cleaning and laundry he’d mentioned, but his mind keeps wandering to that other suggestion.

By the time Yona’s done for the day, he’s certain he’s gone crazy with desire.

They’re cleaning up dishes after a late lunch when the itch returns full-force.

Yona seems oblivious to his internal war, per usual, humming as she puts away the plates and silverware they’ve just washed.

She turns to him, bright-eyed and curious, and asks, “What do you want to do this afternoon?”

Hak pauses, weighing his options.

Before he can talk himself out of it, his fingers find their way into Yona’s hair, and it’s so much softer than he’s ever imagined.

She watches him warily for a moment, eyes wide in confusion, before he exhales shakily and lowers his mouth to brush very gently over hers. 

(It almost doesn’t even count as a kiss. He’s testing the waters.)

Yona squeaks, her body tensing between his and the counter, and Hak pulls away, watching her carefully.

Her face is red and her eyes are wide, but she doesn’t look angry.

“Wha—How d—?”

Before she can form a complete question, Hak chuckles and presses his lips back over hers, silencing her stammering.

His fingers adjust themselves in her hair and Yona’s squeak turns into a sigh. One of her hands tangles hesitantly into his shirt and Hak is sure he’s dreaming. When her other hand tangles into his hair, he’s pretty sure he’s died and gone to heaven.

He pauses then, catching his breath, and is delighted to see Yona looking embarrassed but content as her fingers fly to her face.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to do that,” he breathes, shoving a hand through his hair.

Yona blinks at him and he grins at her before he kisses her again, a little less controlled this time.

The angle they’re at has to be uncomfortable for both of them, so he wraps his hands around Yona’s legs and hoists her onto the counter, never breaking the kiss. The surprised squeak she makes gets swallowed as he chuckles against her lips.

Her fingers find their way into his hair again, much less hesitant this time, and Hak hears himself groan.

Yona detaches herself from him, eyes wide.

“Sorry, does that hurt?”

He’s sure his eyes are wide but he doesn’t bother responding, just sets one hand at her waist as the other tugs gently through her hair as he kisses her again.

She makes the most adorable little humming sound and tugs him closer, her fingers back in his shirt and his hair.

When her legs wrap around his waist to tug him even closer, Hak’s positive his heart stops. The sound that leaves his throat is more of a moan than anything else, and he’s almost embarrassed about it.

The moan that leaves Yona’s throat as he slides his tongue into her mouth is enough to make him forget the self-conscious feeling.

He takes his time with this new discovery, mapping out the inside of Yona’s mouth like his life depends on it. Her fingers tighten against his scalp for a moment before they slacken almost completely, and he takes that as a good sign.

As Hak finally breaks from her to draw in proper breaths, Yona blinks at him, heavy-lidded.

Before he can even utter a syllable, she tugs his face back to hers, taking the lead this time to mimic his exploration. The way her fingers rake gently against his scalp as her little tongue traces through his mouth is almost too much. Hak tightens his grip at her waist and lets her have her way with him for a bit.

Yona’s always been a pretty quick study, but he never imagined that would apply to countertop make-outs.

When she finally releases him, he has to stare for a minute. Her face is flushed and her lips are delightfully puffy. She’s never looked more alluring.

Her legs leave his waist and drop quietly back against the cabinets as she catches her breath, her fingers still running absently through his hair.

Hak lets his eyes close at the sensation, resting his forehead against hers, and keeps his hands exactly where they are.

That doesn’t last long, though, as he catches sight of the button that’s still out of place.

“This has been driving me crazy all morning,” he confides quietly, feeling Yona’s hesitation as his fingers reach for the buttons.

“Hak,” she squeaks, and he ignores her, methodically unbuttoning the entire shirt.

He re-buttons it slowly from the bottom up, ignoring the tension in Yona’s frame.

When he reaches the middle few buttons, he pauses for a few extra moments, gauging Yona’s expression and body language.

She’s practically vibrating with nervous energy, so Hak continues his buttoning, though he does let his fingers trail and linger a bit more than necessary to see her reactions.

Before he reaches the final button, he pauses, thoughtful. Yona exhales shakily and he grins, pressing a kiss to her collarbone and relishing the way her breath stutters.

“Ha-ak,” she whines, fingers flying to his shoulders, and Hak grins against her skin. 

He brings one of his hands up to catch both of hers and hold them in place, rumbling a warning low in his throat. He doesn’t bother finishing the buttoning, instead focusing on trailing kisses up from Yona’s collar to her jaw. He can feel her trembling with each inch he travels.

“Hak!”

This time it’s a pleading whimper and he pauses, raising an eyebrow as he meets her gaze.

Yona’s face is red and she looks almost scandalized, though her eyes are dark.

“Something wrong?” he purrs, pulling his face away from her neck.

“Can you not?” she squeaks, bringing her hands up to her face in embarrassment.

Hak smirks even as he cocks his head. “You’re uncomfortable with this, but not with shoving your tongue down my throat?”

Yona squeaks again, indignant and flushing to the roots of her hair. 

Hak chuckles as he presses a kiss to her forehead, stepping back from the counter to give her room.

Her hands stay locked over her face for a few more moments as he waits patiently, crossing his ankles and leaning back against the kitchen island.

Yona slides off the counter without so much as a word, not even looking at him as she heads for the hallway. A few moments later he hears the bathroom door click shut as the water begins to run.

Hak scrubs a hand over his face, trying to piece together the last few minutes in a way that explains this turn of events.

It’s not a dream. What do they do next?

When Yona exits the bathroom, she settles onto one of the stools on the other side of the island and Hak spins to face her, resting his elbows on the counter.

She sighs heavily, still blushing, and Hak tries not to chuckle.

“So,” she starts, blinking.

“So,” he echoes, raising an eyebrow.

“Um,” Yona says, her eyes flitting between the kitchen and his gaze.

“Yes?” Hak prods, smirking as he leans a little closer.

He’s not going to say it. He’ll let her squirm until she can voice it.

It takes a few minutes, but Yona finally blurts, “That was—um—I think—er, how long did you say you’d wanted to do that?”

Hak blinks, not expecting that particular question, but keeps his eyes on Yona’s face as he replies, “Since before lockdown.”

Her eyes go big as she freezes in place, staring at him, and he waits.

“Seriously? How long before?”

Hak shrugs. “A couple months?”

“_Months_?!” Yona yelps, practically falling off of the stool.

Hak holds her gaze, steady and sure, but says nothing.

“And you said nothing.”

He raises an eyebrow. Obviously he hadn’t, but she’s processing verbally. He’s used to this by now.

“And then you got stuck with me for weeks on end.”

Hak stays quiet, watching the emotions shift across Yona’s face.

“And today you… what? Couldn’t take it anymore and had to kiss me?”

_Close enough._

“If that’s how you want to phrase it,” he shrugs again.

“Well, how would you phrase it?” Yona asks, cocking her head at him.

Hak thinks for a minute, trying to decide.

“Well, your constant presence in my apartment the last few weeks has been interesting,” he starts, shifting his weight. “I guess I’ve gotten comfortable with you here all the time, and I’ve started noticing little things about you that have made me crazy.”

Yona tilts her head at him and he elaborates, “This clothing combination, for instance.”

He runs his gaze down what’s visible of her body and delights in the way that she blushes and stammers.

“Wha—you—what?!”

“You keep stealing my shirts. And those leggings…” Hak trails off, pretending he has x-ray vision to see through the island to her legs. “How’s a guy supposed to keep his hands to himself when you run around looking that good?”

Yona’s mouth opens and closes a few times as she blinks at him before her eyebrows furrow.

“Well, you wander around in just those dumb sweatpants! That’s also very distracting!”

Hak lifts an eyebrow, surprised.

“My sweatpants are distracting?”

“No, the way you wear them is!” Yona insists, her face pink.

“Have you been staring at my abs when I’m not paying attention?” Hak asks, genuinely curious now.

“It’s not my fault you look like a magazine cover!” Yona squeaks, raising one hand to tuck hair behind her ear nervously.

Well, isn’t this some good information, Hak decides with a grin.

(That’s another thing he’s worked on during quarantine: his workout routine. Apparently it’s paying off.)

“Magazine cover?” he repeats, the grin still in place as Yona glances back at him, frowning but nodding.

Her gaze flits around for a second, bouncing from his face to his arms, and Hak stands up straight, smirking.

(He’s not currently wearing said distracting sweatpants, but he makes a mental note.)

“See something you like, Princess?” he teases, and Yona’s eyes go wide at the nickname he hasn’t used recently.

“Um,” she says quietly, blinking as he takes a step back to lean against the very counter that had started this whole thing.

Hak opens his arms a little, gesturing to himself.

He doesn’t expect Yona to come around the island, pausing in front of him with her bottom lip between her teeth.

His breath catches in his throat as her fingers trace a path from his jaw downward, pausing as she brushes over a scar. Her fingers trace it carefully through his thin t-shirt and he stays as still as possible as he meets her gaze.

“Is this the one from Soo-won?” she asks quietly, her eyes sad as her fingers rest over the spot.

Hak only nods slowly, certain he’ll say something stupid if he opens his mouth.

“Mmhmm,” he hums instead, gripping the counter tightly.

She stares at his chest thoughtfully for longer than he thinks necessary before her lips land on his shirt, replacing her fingers.

Hak inhales sharply as Yona’s fingers continue to trail downward, pausing at the hem of his shirt the same moment she lifts her head to peer at him.

“Can I…?”

She should _not_ be allowed to look that tempting and shy at the same time.

Hak nods silently, lifting his arms as Yona’s fingers tug his shirt up toward his head. He pulls it the rest of the way off, letting it fall forgotten to the floor.

Yona stares at the scar she’d mentioned, more prominent than the tiny ones littering his skin. He knows she remembers the night he got it; she’s part of the reason he and Soo-won had argued in the first place.

She inhales shakily, her fingers splaying around the scar like a frame, before her lips land on it and Hak tries not to yelp. She’s careful and slow as she kisses the entire few ragged inches of it, like she’s trying to apologize for its existence or wipe it from his skin.

Hak tries to keep his breathing level, but it’s made even more difficult by the way her fingers begin to wander to his other scars.

“Y-Yona,” he hisses when her lips follow her fingers to a spot where his skin is particularly sensitive. She blinks up at him, curious and a little apologetic, but goes back to trailing touches and kisses down his abdomen.

His brain goes fuzzy as she continues to pepper kisses on scars and unmarred skin, apparently not caring anymore what she’s kissing. He wonders, vaguely, if her brain is as fuzzy as his.

Hak jolts back to awareness when Yona’s fingers reach a scar just above his waistband, and he snatches both her hands up in one of his, wide-eyed.

Yona’s face goes red as realization dawns and she looks away from him, embarrassed.

“Sorry!” she squeaks. “I didn’t—I wasn’t—”

Hak focuses on breathing, willing his heartrate to return to normal.

Yona tries to step away from him, but he keeps his hold on her hands, tugging her into a hug.

“Just… stay right here for a minute,” he breathes, sliding his hands around to link behind her back. “No squirming.”

Slowly, Yona relaxes against him and Hak sighs.

“This was not how I saw this afternoon going, for the record,” he confesses sheepishly as Yona snorts into his chest.

“Were you ever going to tell me how you felt if this hadn’t happened?” she asks, slightly muffled.

His answer is immediate: “Probably not.”

“You were just going to keep pining?” Yona frowns, looking up at him.

He shrugs. “It worked until this morning.”

“Haaaak,” Yona chides, her face growing pink again. “You should have told me!”

He raises an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t you have locked yourself in your room out of embarrassment or something?”

“Probably, but at least I would have known!”

Hak chuckles, pressing his lips to her hair and feeling the tension bleed out of her.

The low groan that escapes her after a moment makes him pause.

“What?”

“Lili’s going to figure this out and be _incorrigible_.”

Hak blinks.

“Maybe you should just tell her?”

Yona pulls back to stare hard at him. “How?”

Hak shrugs. “A text?”

Yona’s voice pitches a little higher as she scolds, “You don’t just _TEXT_ this kind of information, Hak!”

“Well, it sounded better than sending her a video of your tongue down my throat.”

“HAK!” Her ears go pink and he grins.

“What? You could just call her and tell her, you know.”

Yona heaves a sigh again, her head hitting his chest.

“Although,” he ponders aloud, “would she believe you without photographic evidence? Or at least my corroboration?”

“I’m not going to _set up_ a photo of us—um—making out!” Yona protests, and Hak sighs.

“Then I’m out of suggestions.”

“Ugh. Maybe I’ll call her tomorrow,” Yona moans, and Hak chuckles.

“Hey, hand me my shirt, would you?” he asks, raising an eyebrow as she blinks up at him.

“Unless you were planning to keep inspecting my abs?” he smirks, delighting in her flush as she leans over to snatch his shirt up off the floor and shove it into his hands.

“I can’t believe I did that!” she hisses, hands over her face.

“I have the goosebumps to prove it,” Hak offers offhandedly, and Yona quirks an eyebrow at him.

He raises his shirt back up enough to point. “See?”

Yona groans in embarrassment again and he catches her chin carefully, holding her gaze steadily.

He lets her squirm for a few moments before he leans in for another kiss, taking his time.

Her fingers tangle in his shirt and she leans into him, causing his back to press awkwardly into the countertop. He barely even notices, too focused on the fact that she’s practically melting into him to care about what’s happening behind him.

Just when he begins to register the pain in his back, Yona steps backward, tugging him with her. Hak’s heart stops and he nearly lets go of her, but her fingers are insistent. He hears more than feels her back hit the island, and then her hands land on the countertop, shoving upward as it feels like she tries to stand on her toes.

_Oh,_ his brain registers helpfully, and he tears his face from hers long enough to watch her eyes as he raises her onto the counter.

She looks a little bit vixen and a little bit kitten, but Hak doesn’t even really care. She’s got her legs wrapped around him again, practically flush against him as she keeps kissing him, and he lets one hand sink into her hair again.

Suddenly, her hand takes hold of his free one, and Hak freezes as she sets it just above the button he’d stopped at before.

“Wh-wha-what are you—?” he chokes as she releases his mouth to stare curiously at him.

“Don’t you—wouldn’t it be fair?” she squeaks, and her face looks like it’s on fire.

“No!” Hak yelps, sliding his hand down to her waist and willing her to meet his gaze again.

When she does, he assures her, “If you’re uncomfortable, it’s not fair.”

Yona exhales heavily, her shoulders dropping as she sighs, “I thought maybe—”

“Yona,” Hak says firmly, catching her face in both of his hands. “I didn’t kiss you because I want in your pants.”

Yona’s jaw snaps shut and she stares at him, scandalized.

“I mean, I do, eventually, but not today,” Hak stammers. “Ugh. Sorry. Let me start over.”

Her eyes search his face and he forces himself to breathe and relax.

“I don’t want to do anything you don’t want to do. I _like_ kissing you. You could keep this at just kissing forever and I would be fine. You don’t have to push yourself because you think it’ll make me happier, or whatever. I _will_ stop if you’re not comfortable with something, okay?”

She blinks at him for several _long_ moments before she lets out a breath and slumps forward into him, her fingers clasping behind his back.

“Okay.”

“Okay,” Hak parrots, smiling into her hair.

A few more moments go by in silence before Yona asks quietly, “Can we watch a movie?”

“Are you going to fall asleep on the couch?” Hak asks, suspecting the answer.

“Maybe.” As he suspected, the answer is punctuated by a yawn that Yona can’t hide.

He helps her off the counter, nudging her gently as he says, “Go pick one. I’ll be there in a minute to be your pillow.”

Yona wanders to the living room and Hak takes a few minutes to calm his heart back down, scrubbing a hand over his face.

If they’re stuck together like this for a few more weeks, he might actually lose his mind.

When he joins Yona in the living room, he raises an eyebrow at the TV screen.

“You don’t like this series.”

Yona shrugs. “If I’m going to fall asleep during it, does it matter?”

“Fair point,” Hak concedes as he settles onto the couch next to her, letting her take her new normal spot snuggled into his side.

She’s asleep within the first ten minutes and Hak runs his fingers through her hair absently as he half-watches the movie. He watches her sleep, mostly, contemplating today’s developments.

He’d gone from pining after her to kissing her in a matter of hours. It really was strange to think about.

Now, with her tucked into his side like she belongs there, he’s not sure he ever wants this lockdown to end.


End file.
